


Noki and Goldilocks

by ai_katsuu



Series: Red Shoes Ever After [4]
Category: Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Fairy Tale), Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs (2019)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25835554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_katsuu/pseuds/ai_katsuu
Summary: After storming out of the White Palace away from his brothers, Noki bumps into a woman in the woods, who turns out to be the exact opposite of him.
Relationships: Merlin/Snow White (Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs), Noki/Goldie, pino/gretel
Series: Red Shoes Ever After [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872790
Kudos: 19





	1. Middle Child

"Kio, can you pass me the manual?"

Noki, not taking his eyes off his work, held his hand out towards his brother. 

“Pino is using it, he’s in his room.” the younger brother responded. Kio was at the corner of their workshop, fumbling with his hand held gun. 

Noki frowned and continued working. He took the pliers and cut one of the wires. “58th trial…” he mumbled, grabbing the remote. He pushed the button and the small machine began working, traveling across the floor on its own. Kio noticed this and looked up from his work,

“Hey, good job. It finally worked,” he said. Kio knew that Noki had been working on the same contraption nearly a week now, that’s way longer than the average time. 

Noki frowned and shook his head. “No, it’s not supposed to be going that fast.” 

He stood up and walked over to pick it up, turning it over to adjust it. “I really do need the manual,” he muttered. He placed the contraption on his table before walking over to the small door and opening it. 

Now in the quiet palace halls, he took a sharp left and quickly made his way up the staircase, skipping a step or two to make things faster. After climbing one floor, he took another turn and stopped at the first of seven doors. He knocked a couple of times,

“Pino? I need the manual for the-”

The door opened to Gretel poking her head out, “Oh hey, sorry he’s not here now. Do you need to get something?” she opened the door wider as an invitation to enter. Noki shook his head, 

“No, it’s alright. Thank you.” 

Before he was about to leave Gretel stopped him, “Wait,” Noki turned around, “You seem a little pale, is everything alright?” she asked him. He paused for a bit then nodded, 

“I’m fine.” 

“Are you sure?” she asked once more.

Now a bit annoyed, he creased his eyebrows and sighed, “Yes, Gretel. I’m fine.” he told her, “Can you tell me where Pino is?” 

“I’m not sure,” she looked back in their room, “he left just recently though so he shouldn’t have gone too fa-” when Gretel looked back Noki was already down the staircase, determined to just get this over with so he could return back to his work. 

After minutes of wandering the palace, he gave up and decided to just get back to work. His irritation only grew once he saw Pino there the whole time with the manual. “Seriously…” he mumbled. As his annoyance started rising he started taking note of other things. He took a look at the workshop and saw it was a mess. Kio. 

“Hey, I was looking for you.” Gretel came in, “Pino’s right there; woah are you sure you’re alright?” she asked. 

“Yeah, you don’t look too well.” Pino stood up, noticing his younger brothers frown. 

“Would you guys stop being on me all the time?!” he yelled. 

Yelled for the first time. The other three, especially his brothers, were visibly shocked. In all of their twenty years together they had never had a full-blown argument. All of them were always on the same page whenever an issue was brought up, and if ever they disagreed it was always a minor problem and it could be fixed easily. **This** had never happened before. 

“I mean honestly, I had to walk around this entire palace just to look for a book, only to find out it was here the whole time. And my god, Kio, would it kill you to not leave your stuff all over the workshop? And you!” Noki whipped his head to Gretel, who looked visibly concerned. 

“Stop asking if I’m alright every time I express a damn emotion. I’m not your brother so just go bother him instead.” he spat out. 

Pino frowned at this and stepped forward, “Noki, that’s enou-” 

“Oh don’t even get me started on you!" he rolled his eyes and stared at Pino, "You’re always with her now and you never have time for us anymore!” 

“Noki, you know that’s not true.” Pino firmly told him.

“Right. Because you’re always correct cause you’re the eldest.” Things that weren’t even related to the problem just started spilling out of his lips, as if twenty years of pent up and hidden insecurities was finally being released, “Papa always gave the responsibility of the workshop to you, and he gave the most attention to Kio because he was the youngest; meanwhile, I’m here trying my best and nothing seems to be working no matter what I do!” he slammed his fist on his table. 

No one spoke and Noki stopped, slightly panting from exhaustion. He took one look at their faces and that’s when it hit him. All of their faces shocked, concerned, and confused. The guilt and embarrassment slowly started to creep up on him as he suddenly became scared. Unable to look at them anymore, he ran past them and went out the back entrance of the workshop. Not looking back, not looking forward, he just ran. 

He could faintly hear voices calling out his name from behind, but they soon became deaf to his ears as he fled farther and farther from the palace. He was embarrassed nonetheless; tears started forming at the edge of his eyes as he replayed the words he said to his brothers. He was angry at himself, his work, but he didn’t want to be angry with them. 

‘Why was I so stupid. Why am I like this? **Why do I always feel like this when I-** ’

“Hey! Woah!”

He first fell down on the grass as he bumped into something. Rubbing his head he opened his eyes to see chopped wood everywhere on the ground, little farther ahead was a person, flat on the ground with their arms spread out. Noki got up and immediately made his way to them. 

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” he asked, worried for their wellbeing. He hadn’t noticed where he was going. 

The person scrunched their face as their eyes opened, slowly adjusting to the dim light. Noki looked at their features and saw that she was a woman. _“Mmrgm...who..”_ she looked to her right and saw a little green dwarf looking down at her.

 **“Who?!”** she immediately sat up in shock and Noki moved back in surprise...which was a bad idea given that it only hurt her head even more. “Oww…” she groaned, her hand rubbing the back of her short, messy, yellow hair. 

“Are...you okay?” Noki asked once more. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. Is your head alright?” 

“No..no, yeah I’m fine. This happens a lot,” she said. Her face winced a bit as she touched her forehead, a small bruise forming there. “How about you?” she turned to him. 

“I’m fine,” he told her, “Please, let me get your stuff up for you.” Noki got up and started picking up the individual logs of wood. The girl looked at him for a bit then started picking up logs as well. “Are you headed anywhere? Let me help you carry this there. It’s the least I can do.” he offered. Dwarf or Human, the qualities that made him a member of F7 still remained. 

“That’d be really nice. Thanks!” she beamed and stood up, “I’m headed to a cabin nearby. It’s a bit of a walk but we should be there in a bit.” Noki couldn’t help but question her sudden change in attitude as he looked at her, eagerly picking up the logs as she hummed. 

_‘Strange..’_ he mumbled in his head. 

As the two of them walked the woman began making conversation, “So what are you doing out here?” she asked. As much as he wanted to be polite to this woman, he really felt like it was none of her business. 

“That’s not important,” he told her.

“Sure it is,” she said, “oh c’mon you can tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone!” she grinned. 

Noki only frowned at her, _‘That’s not really the issue…’_ he thought. “What about you? What’s a girl like you doing out in the woods? It’s getting late.” he asked, changing the subject.

“I was chopping wood here for tonight. It gets pretty cold and I kind of forgot to do it this morning,” she said. The woman began talking about something else, but Noki unconsciously began tuning her out as he thought about what happened almost an hour ago. The depression was starting to take over his mind as he looked at the grass. He wondered if he could just invent a time machine so that he could go back and this wouldn’t have happened. 

If only…

“Hey!” 

Noki looked up from the ground and saw a ray of sunshine. Or...at least that’s what it looked like for a split second as his chest felt warm. The woman's face was only a good few inches away from him as she crouched down to his level, he couldn’t help but stare at her bright blonde hair and sapphire eyes before he realized he was indeed staring.

“Oh, sorry!” he said immediately, “Did you say something?” 

The woman shrugged, “You were so quiet when I told my joke, I thought something was wrong with your head. Turns out you were just spaced out.” she giggled as she poked the side of his head. 

Noki grew pink as he stepped back in embarrassment and shook his head, “Sorry. Are we close?” he asked her.

She stood back up and gestured ahead. A cute little cabin just a few meters ahead. Small enough for just one person but big enough just to have guests over. It almost reminded him of his old workshop with his family. 

“Over here,” she called him as she walked ahead. Noki followed her to a smaller storage as she opened the door, throwing the logs inside and keeping just a few with her. She closed the door with her foot as she walked back to the entrance. 

“Well, thanks for your help. I really appreciate it!” she grabbed the rest of the logs from him, “I’m Goldie by the way.” she managed to reach her hand out to him. Noki looked at her smile, having a quick internal debate on which fake name to tell her, as he didn’t want word out that he was here. Instead, for some strange reason, he told her the truth. 

“Noki.” he reached out his hand and shook hers. 

“If you want,” she told him, “You can stay here for the night. It’s getting pretty late and I doubt you’d wanna be out there alone.” she offered. Noki only shook his head,

“That’s alright. I wouldn’t want to intrude. Have a goodnight, milady.” he bowed.

Goldie stayed there and raised an eyebrow as he walked away. As Noki reached the entrance to the woods again, he then realized: Where on earth was he going? He had nowhere to go. He couldn’t take back what he said to them. He couldn’t possibly return now. Even if he did decide to go back, where was he? He didn’t look where he was going when he ran off, who knows how far away from home he is. He didn’t have resources to camp out as well. 

His only option was…

Noki turned his head back slightly, “Goldie..?” he called out in a weak voice.

“Still here.” she smiled knowingly. 

“I changed my mind suddenly...I think I’ll take up your offer,” he said, averting his gaze.

Goldie kicked the door open by lifting her leg up, “Why don’t you start the fire and I’ll get the food ready.” she beamed at him. 


	2. Fish in the River

“What do you mean you can’t find him?” Pino asked the guards. 

“Sir, we’ve searched the castle grounds, as well as Golden Goose, we can’t find your brother anywhere. No one has seen him.” the guard told him. 

Pino frowned, “Alright, thank you for your work. You may take your leave.” The guard bowed as he left the room. Gretel looked at him worriedly as he sat on their bed. He removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, letting out a loud sigh. 

“He couldn’t have gone far. We’ll find him.” she sat to him and rubbed his arm soothingly. He looked at her with a soft gaze and pulled her in for an embrace. 

“Thank you…” he sincerely told her, “Thank you for helping us look for him, even after what he said to you.”

Gretel shook her head, “I know he didn’t mean those things, he’s your brother but he’s also my friend too. I’ll do everything I can to find him.” her gaze went to the technology she was working on her table. 

He pulled back, “I’ve told Snow White and the rest already. She’s sending more guards out to find him and we’re all going out tomorrow morning too.” Gretel nodded, “Worst comes to worst, he’ll be back. He will.” he stated firmly.

\--- 

“So do you live here alone?” Noki asked. He sat on the chair near the fire while Goldie sat opposite to him. They held their bowls on their laps as they made conversation while having dinner.

Goldie nodded, “Pretty much. I told my parents I wanted to live here to give myself a sense of responsibility...I didn’t have that much back at home.” she admitted while giving a short laugh. “Eventually I told my sisters too and they were fine with it. So I left the palace a little over a year ago.” 

Noki widened his eyes, “Palace? Are you a princess?” he asked, surprised. 

Goldie nodded her head, “Yeah, Princess Goldilocks. I’m not as known as my older sisters, you may not know me very well.” she laughed. 

“I see,” he looked down at his food, “Well thank you for inviting me in, Your Highness.” 

Goldie looked as if she choked on her food when she heard that. She started coughing and Noki immediately handed her a glass of water. She gulped it down in one go, sighing once she put it back down on the table. 

“...You okay?” Noki asked.

She looked at him and gave him a weak smile, “Yeap. But don’t call me ‘your highness’. I’m trying not to get used to that. Just call me by my name.” 

“Alright Goldilock-” he stopped as she gave him a look, “Goldie…” he continued.

She smiled and stood up, taking his bowl too as she placed them in the sink. “How about you, Noki? You got family?’

He nodded, “Two brothers, my Father, and my governess slash tutor if you count him.” 

“Tutor?” Goldie walked around the room and put the dishes back in their proper places after washing them.

“Yeah,” he laughed, “My brothers and I would always try to get away from him whenever we could. He’s a good guy, but sometimes we didn’t really feel like having all the etiquette lessons.” 

“Really?” Goldie found it strange that a dwarf needed etiquette lessons, but then again she’s not one to question the bizarreness of Fairy Tale Island. “I always wish I grew up with at least one brother. Having tons of older sisters isn’t as great as it sounds.” 

“Yeah, it doesn’t sound great.” Noki looked back at her from his seat smiling, dodging a thrown pillow with a laugh. “I can’t imagine having sisters. I’m very thankful for my brothers,” he said settling back on his seat.

“Where are they now?” she asked. 

“Back home. So where do I sleep?” He quickly changed the subject, not wanting to talk about it anymore. 

Goldie gestured to the long couch near the window. He thanked her and went under the sheets. The two went to sleep as Noki thought about his plan. What would he do tomorrow? Should he ask Goldie for directions? She should know about the surrounding area if she’s lived here for a year. How would he apologize to his brothers and Gretel? Noki thought about what he said, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t mean those things. 

Sure he could have said them better, but it’s not like he was lying. With his Father giving these special treatments to his brothers and Pino not spending as much time with them anymore. He also hated himself for being so critical and a perfectionist about his work. He knew it was unhealthy yet he embraced this trait. These irked his mind as he drifted to sleep, his mind shutting down for the day. Though it felt short as he woke up and saw it was morning. 

“Wake up!”

A ray of sunshine…

“Gah!” Noki sat up and moved back as Goldie violently woke him up. “H-Hey..morning..” he held his hand to his chest. 

“Morning!” she beamed. Goldie stood up and grabbed a bucket and fishing rod. “C’mon let’s go.” she made her way to the door. 

Noki got off the couch and followed her, “Where are we going?” he asked.

Goldie looked back at him, “Well don’t think you’re staying here for free,” she smirked as she lifted the door handle with her hand and used her foot to pry it open. 

Noki followed her back in the woods again, only this time they made a couple of turns from where they originally walked yesterday evening. He felt the air get fresher and cleaner. From a distance, he heard running water. As they exited the woods he saw several rocks placed on fresh green grass, up ahead was a shallow running river. Not too deep that you’d have to swim to get across, but not too shallow that fish weren’t there.

“Right!” Goldie lifted her pants up to her knees after setting the bucket down, “Catch as many fish as you can. It should last me for today’s meals and tomorrows as well. Also, a couple of which I’m gonna sell to the market. Think you can handle it?” she asked. 

Noki nodded as he removed his gloves. He had wondered why she had brought a fishing rod if she was just going to catch them by hand, but he decided not to question that. Goldie was at the far end of the river, catching a couple of fish and throwing them to the side.

Noki wasn’t really concentrating and just pulled on the fishing rod whenever he felt a tug at the line.

“Alright,” Goldie came back holding a couple of them, “I caught around five for now. What about you- what the hell how are you so good?!” she yelled a little too loud when she saw the bucket almost full. “How?!” she frowned and looked at him. 

“I-I don’t know?” he said flustered, “I’m just good at most things I do.” 

“Have you fished before?” she asked.

Noki shook his head, “I have a friend who catches all seafood quite easily, and another who cooks them to perfection.” he looked at the fishing rod, “I did make one of these before though...but I’ve never used it-”

“You’re saying this is your first time fishing?!” she suddenly crouched down to his level. 

“Yes! What’s so surprising?!” he asked, very confused.

Goldie only stood and grumbled, “Mmmm…..fine!” she suddenly said. “Come with me!” and just like that Noki was picked up like he was a duffle bag. 

“H-Hey, I don’t like being carried like this- woah!” he was dropped in the river as he felt the cold running water. He stood up and saw that they were deeper in the river.

“Catch them by hand and see if you can get as much!” she looked at him frowning with her hands on her hips. 

“And...this is because..why?” he looked at her, “I thought the goal was to catch as much fish as we could and-”

“Do it!” she huffed. 

Noki decided not to argue with her and looked at the water. He saw one fish pass by,

“Judging by the way it’s swimming it should come here right about...now.” he crouched down and expected to have a vertebrate in his hands, but it was only water. “What..” he muttered.

He tried again and again, even in other areas but all the fish just kept on slipping away from his hands. 

He started to grumble under his breath, he’s always been good at everything he does. He’s built machines and contraptions that no one has ever seen. So why was this simple task so difficult for him-?!

“Haha!” 

Noki turned around and saw Goldie giggling as she saw him. He frowned and walked up to her, “I see you did this just to humiliate me.” he spat. 

Goldie, trying to stop her laughter, shook her head, “Aha, no not really. It’s just nice to see you can be human too. I thought dwarves were just naturally good at everything.” Goldie saw his face looked confused and she picked him up once more.

“You know I can walk right? I don’t like being manhandled!” he yelled squirming. She sat him down on one of the boulders in the middle of the river. 

“Watch, I’ll teach you,” she smiled. Goldie bent down and easily, she caught a fish. “Use your thumb and index finger to nab it by the tail. Don’t think about the timing, usually they’re there once you feel the water change a bit. C’mon,” she patted the water. 

Noki fell down beside her. He did as she told, but it still slipped from his fingers. He pouted to which Goldie laughed again. “It’s alright, try again.” 

Moments later he still wasn’t getting the hang of it. Until on one of the attempts he was so close to it,

_ “Almost...got it-!” _

And his face was thrown with water. The fish had gotten away from his hands and fell down to the river again. Noki wiped the water off to see Goldie laughing as she held her hands to her stomach. He should’ve been mad at her. He wanted to yell at her for disrupting him. For disrupting his hard work. But for some strange reason, he couldn’t.

He ended up laughing along with her as she fell into the river from laughing too much. 


	3. Family

Noon approached and the sun was high up in the sky. Noki heavily panted out of exhaustion, debating on just falling in the river as well and resting. “You know you can stop now? We have more than enough.” Goldie called out.

“No...I didn’t get enough...have to..get…”

“Alright, alright come here.” Goldie picked up once more and this time he didn’t protest as he sort of just collapsed in her arms. “You got more than enough no worries. You just have to learn when to stop.” 

Noki carried the fishing rod back while Goldie carried the bucket. “I have to admit,” Noki started. Goldie looked at him, “That was pretty fun. I would’ve never imagined myself enjoying something I wasn’t good at. Thanks.” he gave a small smile to her.

Goldie playfully rolled her eyes, “Oh, stop. But you’re welcome, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I was beginning to think you were such a serious person.” 

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You were always frowning, either that or you had a straight face all the time.” she noted.

That surprised Noki, he was always a happy person. Had he really been that upset about what happened yesterday? But even if it was just for a little while, all of his troubles melted away when he was with Goldie in the river this morning. 

“Huh...sorry to give you that impression,” he said. 

“No worries,” she smiled. Once they had reached the cabin Goldie turned to him, “I just need to drop this off at the Golden Goose market, would you mind cooking lunch?” she asked him. 

‘Golden Goose?’ he thought. So they weren’t that far from the palace after all. Noki nodded, “Alright.” 

With that, Goldie made a quick trip to the town. She had memorized the path that turned into shortcuts, shortcuts that she had walked for months. Goldie loved the town, the people there always greeted her without knowing she was a princess, she greeted the kids who seemed to know her as the fish lady and she would sometimes play with them as well. As much as she loved her royal status and all of it’s perks, she loved this life as well.

“Thirty-five fresh from the river!” she placed the bucket down on the table. The middle-aged man smiled, 

“That’s more than usual! Well done, Goldie!” he grinned. 

“Oh shucks it’s nothing. I had a friend help me today.” she said. 

“That’s good, here.” he handed her a couple of coins, “I’ll see you in a few weeks.” Goldie waved him good-bye and was about to return back before he stopped her again, “Oh, Goldie! Sorry, one more thing.” the man took a paper out of his pocket, “Have you seen this dwarf?” 

Goldie looked surprised. It was Noki. “Why are they looking for him?” she asked carefully, “Did he do anything wrong?” 

The man shook his head, “No, he just went missing from the White Palace yesterday. The Prince and Princess are looking for him.” Just as he had said that another voice was heard, 

“Noki!”

A shorter woman with brown hair called out his name. To her right was a tall prince dressed in blue, who she recognized to be Merlin of the Fearless Seven. Goldie was concerned and confused, but nonetheless she shook her head. “No, sorry I haven’t seen him. Gotta go.” and she quickly left the town.

On her way home, she thought about asking him about it, but if he knew they were looking for them would he want to go home? If she were being honest with herself she didn’t want him to leave. As free as she was in her cabin, it also got pretty lonely. But if that prince and princess were looking for him…

“Wait...why would a prince and princess be looking for a dwarf?” she asked herself out loud. That thought was cut short as she heard a scream coming from her cabin. Alerted, she sprinted to it and saw a bear approaching a much much smaller prey, which happened to be Noki who smelled of dead fish. 

He didn’t have his crossbow with him, and admittedly he wasn’t that strong physically. Noki fell down and scooted back to the cabin door. It was locked as Goldie had accidentally taken the key with her. “Times like this I wish I had listened to Arthur’s training…” he mumbled to himself. 

The bear snarled at him violently but it wasn’t long before a large thud was heard. Noki opened his eyes to see a sharp metal in front of him. Goldie had brought an axe in between them. 

“Oh my god, you could have killed me!” he yelled. 

“Please I could cut you an apple slice with this axe,” she grunted lifting it up. The bear had stood up on its hind legs, ready to fight the girl. 

“Goldie, I don’t know much about bears but I think you’re supposed to leave it alone.” he said worriedly, backing up to the door. Goldie threw the key at him.

“Alright, I know about messing with bears more than anyone. So you don’t mess with me.” Goldie stared the beast down. 

“Stop talking to the bear!” Noki yelled at her hysterically. 

At this, the bear had suddenly shrunk down, and a little girl in a pink dress was shown. 

“Oh..” Noki and Goldie looked at her, much much smaller than the both of them.

“Give me your fish! I was supposed to fish there this morning and you took all the good ones!” she stomped her foot down. 

“Just go and catch more,” Noki offered, still a little confused. 

“I don’t want to, I'm tired.” she stated flatly and stomped her foot on the ground, “Give me yours. I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it!” 

Noki sighed, this is why he never wanted a sister. “Well if that’s what she wants, it couldn’t hurt to give her a few-”

“Hey! No one cares what you want, you brat!” Goldie yelled at her furiously. This surprised Noki greatly. He thought she would give it to her with no fight, apparently not. “You snooze, you lose, that's the deal. And you don’t go attacking someone like that you could hurt them. Now get off my property!” she scolded. 

The little girl, now looking like she was about to cry, instead screeched out a scream that made Noki cover his ears. 

Goldie rolled her eyes and walked up to her, “Ohh, the little girl thinks that if she screams she can get away with everything?” she said mockingly, “I can scream too, watch. **AHH!** ” she yelled at her face.

“AHHH!”

“AHH!!”

“AHH!”

“Okay, I think you made your point, Goldie!” Noki said, covering his ears. 

“Now, march!” Goldie sternly pointed at the woods. The little girl glared at her as she ran off. Goldie sighed as she walked back to the cabin. “You cooked anything yet?” she asked. 

Noki merely shook his head, still surprised at her sudden change in personality.

“It’s fine. I’ll do it.” she breathed out. 

\---

“I swear you looked crazy.” Noki laughed at her. They spent the rest of the day inside the cabin, night was starting to come over but they decided to have an early dinner. They sat together by the fireplace, tons of pillows surrounding them as they made themselves comfortable. 

“What? That brat deserved it, she’s the crazy one.” Goldie rolled her eyes. “I hate it. She reminds me of me when I was her age.” 

“You were like that?” Noki asked. 

Goldie nodded, “I don’t want to talk about it. Makes me cringe.” _‘And she’s not the only one who reminds me of me…’_ she thought to herself. “I’m gonna get some milk,” she said standing up. As soon as she walked away however, a piece of paper fell from her pocket. 

“What’s this?” Noki asked, picking it up. Goldie turned around and almost immediately ran back,

“No, wait!”

Noki widened his eyes, it was a missing poster for him. “Where did you get this…?” he asked, shocked.

Goldie sighed and sat back down next to him. “Golden Goose. Some prince and princess were looking for you. I didn’t tell you cause..” _‘I wanted you to stay..’_ she said in her mind, but kept that to herself, “Can I ask what that’s about?” she asked worriedly. 

Noki averted his gaze, not answering. 

“Is that why you were in the woods yesterday? You ran away from home?” she asked. Albeit slowly, Noki nodded his head. Goldie understood, “Alright. I’m not gonna turn you in.” she said. 

“Really?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, “I of all people should be able to understand not wanting to be home.”

“You trust me that easily?”

“Of course. I know you’re a good person.”

Goldie looked at him with the most sincere eyes he had seen; the fire reflecting in her eyes made a familiar warmth in his chest as he looked back at her.

“I...I’m not proud of it,” he told her, “I had a fight with brothers. We never fought, but for some reason, this thing I was working on just kept on breaking and breaking, and I just couldn’t get it right. I blew up and took it out on them. I said all these hurtful things to their faces, and it wasn’t even relevant at the moment”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly was it about?” she asked.

“I’m a middle child. My father trusted his workshop to my older brother, meanwhile, he gave most of his attention to my younger brother and I was just there. I always felt like I had to prove myself just to get attention, not just from my father but from others as well.” he said, “I’m always lumped in with my brothers, not that that’s a bad thing but sometimes, I just want to be seen for Noki. Me as an individual.”

He let out a long sigh and gave a very weak smile as he looked at the carpeted floor, “What would they think of me now..” 

He then felt a weight shift on his left side. Goldie had put an arm around him and looked at him with saddened eyes, “I’ve never met your brothers but…

I think you’re pretty great, Noki.” 

He felt tears sting at the corner of his eyes. He wanted this moment to last forever. The feeling of being acknowledged for being himself. 

“Mm...thanks, Goldie. It means a lot.” he coughed out. 

“It’s nothing. I was just stating the truth.” she smiled. “So why’d you get mad anyway?”

Noki flushed slightly, “I’m...a bit of a perfectionist.” he admitted. 

“Well that’s easy!” she beamed, “Just learn to let loose and all your problems will disappear! Hakuna Matata!” 

“What?”

“Nevermind. My point is, you have to learn to accept that there are things that you just aren’t good at. That and you need to learn that not everything can always go your way. Trust me.”

Noki, a little annoyed at how easy she claims it to be, rolled his eyes at her, “How would you know?” 

Goldie, a bit offended at the gesture crossed her arms, “Cause I was a perfectionist too.” Noki looked surprised, “You remember my sisters right? They were on about me cause I was a brat, acting like that little girl we met earlier. I got mad at them for telling the truth so I ran off and found a little house that belonged to three bears. Long story short I messed their house up because nothing was to my standards and they got mad at me. That’s when I realized, just cause I’m working on something for myself, doesn’t mean it’s not affecting others too.” 

Noki's mind flashback to when Gretel kept on asking about his well being. “Oh…”

“Eventually I learned my lesson. I didn’t feel like talking to my sisters though, so I moved out here as a way to learn some responsibility. I haven’t talked to them since, but I know they still have my back. They’re family, just like your brothers will always have your back.” she concluded. “My point is, no one expects you to change overnight. I can help you get through it.” she offered a smile at him. 

Noki looked ashamed; ashamed but thankful she didn’t get mad at him. “Sorry I did that...thank you. I’d really like it if you were by my side…” he slowly realized that last bit of the sentence and widened his eyes, “Uh..what I mean by that is-!”

Goldie gasped, “It’s raining!” she looked out the window. 

“Huh?” Noki turned around to see Goldie already running out the door. Noki followed her to see her dancing and playing around the rain. 

As he stood by the doorframe, it was then and there he realized that Goldie was everything he was not. She was happy being herself, not caught up about whether she would get sick from the rain, or whether she might slip or get her clothes dirty. She was just happy having fun by herself. 

That warm feeling came to his chest again.

Although he loved her personality, there were bound to be times where it could go too far. Goldie had indeed ran too fast as she slipped on the mud. 

“Hey! Watch out!” Noki ran towards her, tripping slightly from the mud as well but stood his ground as he held her. 

“Are you stupid?!” Noki yelled. “It’s raining, you shouldn’t be running out like that, you could get hurt!” Goldie was supposed to respond to him, and she would’ve, she just expected to respond to a smaller green dwarf, not a 5′9 blonde human. 

Noki had seemed to notice her unusual silence, and for a moment he thought he had went too far with her, his face scrunched in regret,

“I’m sorry, Goldie, I didn’t mean to-”

“Human..” she muttered. 

“What?” he looked at her eyes and saw them looking up and down, _‘What did she..’_ his eyes widened in realization. “I’m human?” It occurred to him that when he ran across the mud, though very brief, he must have slipped and fallen a little too close to her face before he grabbed her. 

“Oh my god, but the only way to break the curse is to-” 

He looked at Goldie, who looked equally starstruck as well. He didn’t realize but apparently, they had feelings for each other. Red finally made its way to Noki’s face as he helped her up. “I’m so sorry- are you okay-?” and she kissed him again. Her arms were around him as she pulled apart, 

“You were human this whole time?!” she yelled as she pulled away.

“Y-Yeah,” he managed to get out, still surprised at their second kiss.

“I mean don’t get me wrong, I liked you for yourself but I didn’t think you’d be human!” she said. She suddenly started laughing as the rain hit her face. “It all makes sense now! You’re Noki from the F7, no wonder Prince Merlin was looking for you!” 

“That was Merlin?” he asked, “Wait no, that’s not the point. Hold on, there are too many things happening now...” he hadn’t noticed, but unconsciously his hands were comfortable around her as they held each other in the rain. 

All went well after that. Goldie had encouraged Noki to go back to the White Palace, but he only agreed if she would come with him, and that’s what they did. They passed through the back entrance which was their workshop. The surprised look on Pino and Kio’s faces when Noki had returned was indescribable. They didn’t care if he was already human, they were just so relieved and happy he was back. Noki had apologized to them, but they already understood. At that moment Noki was more than grateful just to be with them. The commotion had caused the rest of the group to come down to see Noki as a human, and a blonde woman beside him. 

After apologizing for all the stress he gave the group, they apparently couldn’t care less and instead surrounded Goldie, asking a million questions to which she happily responded as she felt at home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Goldie and Gretel belong to sleepy-lion-king and disnerd-4ever on tumblr!


End file.
